Chapter 8

            The girls were sleeping heavily when the phone rang and scared all of them awake.

            “Heather answer it quick!” Kelshie snapped. She was always cranky when she was woken up abruptly. “Make the ringing stop!”

            Heather laughed at her whining best friend as she reached for the phone.

            “Hello?”

            “Heather it’s Rose. Would you mind coming into work today? Right now it’s only me and Tommy. Everyone else has called in sick. We have a lot of people lined up for adoptions and we haven’t even finished cleaning the cages yet.”

            “Sure I’ll come in today. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

            “Thank you so much Heather! You’re a life saver!”

            “Who was that?” Jess asked.

            “It was Rose. She needs a lot of help at the animal shelter. I have to go into work today because she and our other co-worker are swamped. I’m sorry I’m leaving you guys for the day.”

            “That’s ok,” Kelshie answered. “Would you need someone to volunteer?”

            “I’ll have to see how busy it is but I don’t think so. Thank you anyway Kelshie.”

            “You know I’ll always help out when it comes to animals.”

            “I gotta go get ready. Help yourselves to breakfast just search for whatever you want in the fridge and the cabinets.”

            “We can go to the mall if you guys want to while Heather’s gone,” Jess suggested.

            “If you do decide to go out somewhere I’ll leave the spare key on the kitchen table for you guys. I’ll see around four or five depending on how busy we are. And Kelshie I might be giving you a call to help out.”

            “Ok Hermie. Have fun,” Kelshie smiled.

            “Thanks. See you girlies later.”

            Heather threw on her clothes and tied up her hair in record time. Before she ran out the door she grabbed a bagel for the drive to work.

            There was a long line of people waiting to talk to Rose who was behind the main desk of the shelter. Rose took a big sigh of relief when she saw Heather walk through the front door.

            “Excuse me for one moment miss,” Rose slipped out from behind the desk to talk to Heather.

            “What are my orders boss?”

            “Right now Tommy and I are running adoptions and we got a few more volunteers that are cleaning the cages. Everyone has been fed but there are a few more dogs that need to be walked.”

            “Ok I’ll take them on a quick walk. Who needs to be walked?”

            “The row you take care of actually.”

            “I’ll go walk them right now.”

            “Thank you so much for coming in today! I know I pulled you away from your Backstreet Buds.

            “It’s no problem. They understand.”

            Heather set out on walking the dogs in the assigned row one by one. Once she got to the last three cages a huge smile came across her face. Ebenezer, Tuffy, and Pinch were very excited to see her back at work.

            “Hello my three favorites!” she said happily. “Let’s go for a walk.”

            She clipped on the dogs leashes then led them outside. She took the last three dogs out for a longer walk than the others she was in charge of. She loved those three dogs and it was obvious that they loved her back. She took her time taking them back in but when she did Rose caught up with her.

            “I’m going to take my lunch break now so would you mind taking over the front desk?”   

            “No I don’t mind at all.”

            “Thanks so much!”

            Heather filled out some paper work and answered some questions before her friend Bruce and his wife Chrystal were next in line to tell her, “We’re interested in adopting a dog.”

            “It’s about time you two came in to adopt! Come follow me. I’ll show you the row of dogs I normally watch over and we’ll go from there.”

            Bruce and Chrystal found certain things about each dog that either of them liked. Bruce wanted a bigger dog that would be a good protector while Chrystal wanted a medium sized dog that would be good with future kids.

            Heather was hesitant before she asked, “Would you be interested in adopting two dogs?”

            “You know we’re animal lovers Heather,” Bruce answered without missing a beat. “If we were millionaires we would adopt them all.”

            “Well there are two dogs at the end of the row that have been here for quite a while. They both came from the same house and I would like to see them get adopted together.” Heather showed them Tuffy and Ebenezer.

            It was love at first sight for Bruce and Chrystal. At first Bruce was a little put off by Ebenezer’s age but as he spent a little time with him he realized that Ebenezer didn’t act like an old dog at all. Chrystal was a little intimidated by Tuffy until the pretty pit bull mix proved how sweet and trusting she was.

            “So honey what do you think?” Bruce asked his wife.

            “I love them both. Can we take both of them home?”

            “It’s up to you.”

            “Heather, Tuffy and Ebenezer will be coming home with us today.”

            Heather’s eyes lit up, “You don’t know how long I have been waiting for them to find a good home! If they weren’t going to get adopted soon I was going to take them home myself. But this is great! They are going to a loving home and I get to visit them! I’ll go get you guys their leashes and the adoption papers then I’ll show you into an adoption room.”

            “Thank you so much Heather.”

            “No don’t thank me. I thank you guys for adopting them.”

            Around 4:30 the shelter calmed down to a much slower pace. Heather helped feed the animals then paid a special visit to Pinch before she left.

            She stepped into his cage after he finished eating and sat down in his kennel.

            “Hey Pinch,” the Doberman pinscher puppy sat in her lap and listened to her talk. “I’m sorry you didn’t get adopted yet. I know you’ll get a good home someday soon. If not I promise I’ll take you home myself. You’re such a good puppy and you’ll make someone very happy. I have to go home now bud but I’ll check in on you tomorrow.”

            She kissed the puppy’s forehead and Pinch licked her face. Pinch settled down in his bed once Heather locked the kennel before she left.

            As she pulled into the drive way Jess, Kelshie and Melina were walking toward the back door.

            “Perfect timing!” Kelshie called out when Heather got out of the car.

            “Where did you girls go to?”

            “We went to my favorite place in the world!” Jess exclaimed.

            “How did you like the mall up here Melina?” Heather asked.

            “I had a lot of fun shopping with Jess and Kelshie,” she smiled her reply.      

            “I even had fun trying stuff on,” Kelshie commented.

            “You? Wow miss I hate the mall,” Hermie joked.

            “Yeah I know! So how did work go?” Kelshie asked.

            “We had a lot of adoptions today and Tuffy and Ebenezer I told you guys about got adopted too.”

            “Awesome!” Melina exclaimed. “You must be very happy!”

            “I am. And you’ll never guess who adopted them.”

            “Who?” Kelshie asked.

            “Bruce and Chrystal.”

            “Oh how nice,” Jess commented. “Now you can visit your two favorite dogs in their new home.”    

            “Yeah today was a very good day. Now I’m ready to relax and I don’t feel like cooking. How does Chinese takeout sound to you guys?”

            The Backstreet Buds agreed and Heather got the menu. As they waited for the food to arrive Kelshie got an idea.

            “I was thinking…” she started.

            “Uh oh here we go,” Heather joked.

            “Oh shush! Are we really going to go into the city in the dresses we are going to wear to the After Party?”

            “Good point there…” Heather thought for a second, “I know I can call in a favor to my friend Sue. She works in a hotel that’s right next to where the concert is. We could get a room just to keep our stuff in and after the concert we’ll run to the hotel, change and run back.”

            “Will we have enough time to do that?” Jess questioned.

            “Hey blood sister can I use your laptop? I want to see if it says anything about the After Party on the fanlub,” Melina said.

            “Good idea. Go right ahead and use it.”

            Melina logged onto her fanclub profile and found out that she had one unread message, “It says that we can leave our things backstage before the concert if we wanted to and that they are giving us an hour before the party to get ready. It also says that we have to be at the concert hall at least three hours before the concert starts so we can do the meet and greet and take a tour backstage and have a question and answer session.”

            “What time does the concert start again?” Jess asked.

            “Eight pm,” Heather replied without missing a beat.

            “So we have to be there by five the latest. Why don’t we just book a room for the night before the concert so we can sleep over there and be there early in the morning so we can get a good spot on line? Remember how early we used to go to concerts?” Jess smiled as she thought back to her high school days.

            Kelshie chuckled, “Yeah I remember that well. But this time we don’t have to get there too early. I mean we don’t have to be like some fans that get their spot in line at like six am the morning of the concert. We are going to meet them and get our picture taken with them before the concert and if we’re lucky hang out with them after the concert.”

            “But don’t you want a good spot in the standing area?” Melina asked.

            “We’re going to get close to them before the concert though,” Kelshie reasoned.

            “You have a point there,” Heather replied. “Let me call Sue and see what I can get. If the food comes I left money on the table.”

            Heather walked into her office room and dialed Sue.

            “Hi Heather! What’s up?”

            “Hey Sue! I was wondering if you could do me a favor…”

            “Sure, what is it?”

            “Is there any possible way you could book a room for me for the 25th and the 26th?”

            “Is it because you’re going to the Backstreet Boys concert?”

            “Yes it is! How’d you know?”

            “Their management asked a few hotels around where the concert is to hold open a few rooms for the people going to the After Party. I have one room left. How many people are with you?”

            “Three other girls.”   

            “Would you mind having a two bed room? I could always have two fold out beds delivered to your room for free because of the friend discount.”

            “No, we can share beds that’s not a problem Sue. And thank you so much!”

            “Don’t mention it! I’ll probably see you on the 25th when you check in but if I don’t have fun at the concert! You’re so lucky to get VIP tickets you must be excited!”

            “Oh trust me Sue we all are! Oh what time is check in?”

            “Anytime you like. Just give me a call when you get a parking spot.”

            “OK Sue I will. Thanks again!”

            “Don’t mention it.”

            Heather hung up and walked back into the living room just as the doorbell rang.

            “I’ll get it,” Kelshie got up and answered the door. She paid for the food and brought it inside to the others.

            “I’ll get you guys TV tables,” Heather set up the tables and helped hand out her friends’ orders.

            “So what’s the verdict on the hotel room?” Jess asked.

            “We have a two bed room so we’ll have to double up but and I found out from my friend that there were a few rooms set aside for the people going to the After Party so we’re not the only Backstreet Fans that will be staying there.”

            “What time are we going into the city?” Kelshie asked.

            “It’s up to you guys. It doesn’t matter to me. My friend said we can check in whenever we want to.”

            Melina asked, “Could we go sightseeing tomorrow? I would love to see New York City.”

            “Yeah Hermie can we?” Jess pleaded. “You know how much I love shopping in the city.”

            “What do you think Kelshie?” Hermie asked.

            “I haven’t been to NYC in a while. I’d like to go again.”

            “Alright then, we’ll show Melina around the city tomorrow,” Heather concluded.

            “Yay! Thank you blood sis!”

            “You’re welcome.”

            “Can we practice Unmistakable one last time after dinner?” Kelshie suggested. “I think we should practice tonight and leave it alone tomorrow and we will be good for the party.”

            “That sounds like a great idea,” Heather agreed.

            The girls finished their dinner then practiced their song one last time in front of the big mirror in the living room.

            Heather smiled as she exclaimed, “Guys we are going to rock this song!”

            “Really?!” Melina asked excitedly.

            “Oh yeah I was watching you guys in the mirror and everyone was dead on with the choreography and our voices sounded perfect!”

            Jess clasped her hands together, “I’m getting excited now!”

            “Me too!” Kelshie almost screamed. “We better get the stuff we wanna bring along so we can just pack the cars and head for the city.”   

            “Couldn’t have said it better myself Kelshie,” Heather said. “And I was thinking that we could all just go in my CRV so we only have to worry about one car.”

            “That sounds like a plan,” Jess said. “We better start packing now.”